Congress urges Maharashtra CM to provide relief funds to flood-hit people in cash

Congress on Saturday shot-off a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urging him to provide relief funds in cash to the flood-hit victims and not transfer the money to their bank accounts as many of them have lost their crucial bank documents in the deluge.

The party also highlighted that many of the financial institutions in the state are not working for the past few days due to relentless rain in the region.

"You (Devendra Fadnavis) have announced financial help to the flood victims in the state. Before this, the financial help was also announced for the people affected by natural calamity. But earlier, on all occasions, financial help was provided in the form of cash," says the letter.

"According to your new order, the said help will be transferred to an individual's personal Bank accounts. The issue is, people who have lost everything in this flood have lost their passbooks and other important documents required for withdrawal of the relief funds," the letter adds.

"So, it is most likely that they might not be able to get the benefit of the financial help provided by the state government," the letter by the Congress further adds.

It should be noted that several isolated pockets of Maharashtra are witnessing heavy downpour leading to waterlogging and traffic snarls.

NDRF team along with Naval and Army officers are working day and night to rescue the families stuck in the low lying areas, which are submerged under floodwater.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the state is expected to receive more rainfall for the next few days. The orgsation has also adviced farmers not to venture into the Arabian sea for the next few days.

( With inputs from ANI )